Summer changes the family dynamics~Right?

Guess what, I am guest contibuting over at In The Real World Venus vs Mars today . . . I'd love for you to come and visit me there . . . I'm writing about how summer chagnes the family dynamics.

Just as the summer is beginning to wind down and we are so used to having our children around all day long  . . . I have to say I think I may find it hard for my children to return to school.(snort and snicker do I hear)

However, I feel it is my responsibility (and perverse pleasure) to enlighten you. Staying home all the time is much more difficult than working. How the children being home for the summer changes the family dynamics in my house is rather filled with hilarity (in my opinion).

The house or family dynamics is 100% different during the summer. Like it or not, being home all day long with your children is a tough job. Guess what, you are around your children, all day long(I thought I needed to say that again)! You won't get lunch breaks or an opportunity to run errands. You can run errands, but your children are with you. If your kids are anything like mine, running errands is like taking them to the dentist. They are hopped up on adrenaline and always whining for something or other. Another thing, you will be around your children all day long (a point worth repeating, again). I find myself lucky if I get to use the toilet by myself!

Each day is jam packed with activities such as golf lessons and horse riding lessons and ballet and gymnastics and baseball and cheer leading and summer tutoring (and yes, I absolutely torture my children and make them have enrichment tutoring in the summer). In between all this shuffling time I need to find time to actually have fun with my children. You know, like take them swimming or to the park or bike riding. All these activities I thoroughly enjoy!(do you hear my sarcasm) Do you have any idea how difficult and exhausting it is to watch three children at a local swimming pool. I nearly had five strokes this summer, all at the local swimming pool because I lost sight of my son or daughter for, you know, like two minutes!

But I guess worrying about my children drowning is much better than worrying about mundane tasks such as deadlines and appointments and meetings. That is good because I don't think I have the mental capacity to actually worry about such mundane tasks anymore. I really need to put forth some effort to use my brain in other ways than to snort at Sponge Bob in the morning. I'd really love the opportunity to use my brain on an adult level again . . . sometime soon.

Oh, and since there is not a babysitter in the equation, because I am the babysitter. My children are magically(say this in a singing voice) little angels . . . every single second of the day. Because you know since I am around 100 percent of the time, I can redirect their behavior at a moments notice . . . and let me tell you, it so works! I get to enjoy their wonderful personalities all day long!(did I say that already?)

I have yet to make peace with the level of filth that has accumulated in my home this summer. Sand in the corners, sand in my rugs, ice cream wrappers stuffed in the sofa, freeze pop wrapping under the ottoman, flip flops fricking everywhere! I mean, seriously, can I clean my house once and have it remain clean for like say, an hour??

When summer first began I was so excited for a fabulous summer, I planned days at the museums, outings to the zoo, days spent at local fairs, evenings at baseball games, we even planted a garden! Then I decided I was a bit tired from all the running around with the children. Reality set in, I needed to pace myself. Summer wasn't even half over and I had already run a marathon!

We had craft days, and rainy days and movie days  and the "I'm so bored today" days. I was bored (Shh, don't tell my kids). Boredom was particularly heavy for me because I was basically a single parent this summer as husband was off to various locations across the globe every other week. The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months and I was left to fill a (seamlessly) endless void for my children. Some days I would pass a mirror and catch a glimpse of myself and realize that I had not showered yet and was still in my pajamas . . . and it would be two o'clock (and my children would still be in theirs).

Being at home all summer long with my children is not easy . . . my house is a wreck (literally, it is a wreck), I have laundry in piles in my basement, my dog is (sadly) neglected, I have bags under my eyes bigger than my favorite LV, the diamond in my engagement ring fell out, my kids have eaten more frozen pizza than I care to tell anyone and my husband has made our living room his permanent packing place.

I am ready for my kids to start school so I can clean up my house and get things (mainly me) back in order. I don't feel guilty for wanting my children to go back to school because my house changed so much over the summer. But I am ready for what is ahead! I'm painting walls I tell you!

I am going to look at what is important to me, and hold on to the fun times of this summer break, for I know I will miss these days when my children are older. I did enjoy each day, but realize that it is a roller-coaster of change, just as the days were of altered nap times(only a few short years ago).

I get used to one thing, and it changes. Hmmmm....maybe change is good, for it is the "cycle of life"!